I Promise
by LoupGarouAngel
Summary: DeathFic.Dean doesn't want to let go of his little brother, but Sam just wants to go home...


Dean hated hospitals. They were to clean. To white. To damn perfect. Why did it have to be perfect, the contents of the hospital were far from it anyhow.

He drew in another ragged breath, it had been two weeks and Sam still laid on the bed, in a deep coma the doctors said he would never wake from. Dean didn't believe it, said his brother was stronger then that, his brother could pull through anything. Sam could, he swore.

The hunt had gone wrong and Sam had jumped in front of a demon to stop it from killing Dean. Never could Dean forgive himself for that. It was his job to protect, not Sammys.

He spent everyday and night by Sams side. His neck and back now always sore, his eyes always red and his face pale with lack of sleep and nutrition.

He talked to Sam all the time, talked about a lot of different things. He talked about when they were little. He spoke of hunts they had been on. Most of all though, he told Sammy he had to come back. Life just wasn't life without Sammy.

Everyday the nurses tried to pry him away, but he always shouted and screamed until they left. Doctors tried to convince him to pull the plug, to let Sam go. He couldn't. Where would Sam go? No, he wouldn't let Sam go somewhere bad, he was his big brother. It was his job to protect him, he wasn't letting Sam go.

Dean sat holding Sams hand, and for the first time in two weeks he began to nod off. When he opened his eyes though he was no longer in the hospital. No longer was he surrounded by blain white and the stench of cleaners. No, he was on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, the sun rising before him. It was the most beautiful place he had ever seen.

He heard someone step up behind him, turning he grinned at the sight. Sammy. His beloved little brother.

"Sam.."

Dean embraced him in a tight hug, tears sliding down his cheeks, sobs escaping his throat. Sam cried as well, clinging tightly to Dean.

"Dude, you little bitch! You gotta wake up!" Dean said with a smile. It faded as he saw Sam not return a grin, but instead looked at Dean with a mournful face.

"Dean…it's my time. You have to let me go…I know, I know it's rough but…"

"Sammy, no! You, you just gotta find a way back in your body! You gotta…you can't leave me Sammy…"Deans throat was tight with pain. Sams lip quivered as more tears fell.

"I don't want to go Dean, but I won't go back to a brain dead body and that's all that's left. Dean. There is a place so great, so beautiful that I can go Dean. You have to let me go there Dean. You have to let me go."

Dean clenched his jaw and let the tears just flow down his face. He watched the sun rise, the colors flashing on the ocean as a breeze fluttered his hair.

"Is this what it's like Sammy? Is this where you will go?" He whispered it so quietly Sam barely heard him.

"From what I've seen yes. Mom and Jess are there to Dean. Please Dean, do this. For me."

Dean looked his brother in the eyes. God how he loved him. How much he meant to him. He nodded.

"Promise me something Dean." Sam said with a shaky voice.

"Anything for you Sammy."

"Promise me that you'll be brave Dean. Promise you'll do the hardest thing in this world, promise me that you'll live a life. You won't turn sour, you won't turn to hate and evil, and that you'll go on without me beside you." Sam met his eyes.

"How can I do that without you Sam…I don't know how." A sob escaped him. Sam smiled softly.

"You will Dean, if you try. It will just be a little while before we see each other again. It's a blink in time." Sam croaked in a tear filled voice.

"Not to me Sam…"

"Promise me Dean"

"I promise Sammy, I promise." Dean gasped in defeat.

Silence fell between the two as the sun rose a little higher.

"Sam?"

"Yeah dean?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"You'll visit me, take a break from your paradise once in a while and let me know your around. You'll give me a sign that your around…"

Dean hated this. He hated it so much it hurt. Sam gripped him in another tight hug and whispered to him softly.

"I promise."

Dean wanted this to last for ever, but it didn't. He snapped awake and found he was back in the cold, blain hospital room. He turned to Sam. Their hands were still together. Dean cried, sobs echoing down the hospital halls.

Later on a doctor came in. Dean told him it was time and the doctor nodded solemnly. He flicked of all the machines and the rhythm of Sams heartbeat that Dean had become so accustomed to stopped. In replace of it was a loud, long beeping that went with the flat line on the screen. Sam was gone. And Dean was all alone in the world.

Dean cremated Sam. It made sure nothing could grab hold of his body. Not ruin his image in any way. He spread his ashes in every state, seemed right to Dean. They were always traveling, they had no favorite place or home to go to. Now a little piece of Sam was in every state, just like he should be traveling to every state with Dean.

For years Dean couldn't move on. He broke his promise with Sam. He grew bitter. He lost his sense of humor, he even gave up hope that that dream he had was real and that Sam was just dead and gone. That there was no Sam in a paradise.

One day that all changed. Dean was in his late thirties as he drove down the interstate, the Impala still going good under him. Suddenly he hit black ice and everything went dark.

"Dean."

He hadn't heard that voice in years, it couldn't be…just couldn't…

"Dean, you broke your promise dude, you know I should kick your ass for that."

Sam.

"Yeah well, did you keep up your end of the deal?"

Dean blinked open and found he was in a tunnel, and at the end was a bright light and Sam.

"I did, you just ignored what was right in front of you." Sam said in a serious tone.

"Sam, it's so hard…I just want to die."

"It's not your time Dean, you live to be old. Your job isn't done on earth."

"And yours was?! Damn it Sam, you had more of a purpose then I ever did! How can you say my job isn't done when you never even had time to start?!" Dean sobbed, trying so hard to head towards Sam, but a force wouldn't let him.

"My job was to save you Dean, that's all. You have to finish yours though Dean, or you'll never be able to leave."

"How can you say that?! You were so much more then that! Don't treat your life like it meant nothing!" Tears were streaming down his face now, the light was fading, Sam was fading.

"It meant a whole lot Dean, but you have to continue on…you have to live…for me."

And with that Dean snapped wide awake, he shot up quickly spooking the nurse next to him. Right then and there he decided not to break Sammys promise, he would be brave, he would be strong. He would live.

Dean ended up marrying that nurse, her name was Danielle and they had fallen in love during his time in the hospital. Dean settled down with her, had children as well. He had a boy who he named Samuel Jonathon and a girl who he named Mary.

He hunted on the side, but picked up a job as being a mechanic. He grew old, time wore at his body, but his spirit never wavered.

He always got signs from Sam. M&Ms in the passenger seat. The creaking of floor boards when he was home alone. Sometimes he could even hear his laughter, or sense his presence. And Dean would talk to him, tell him everything. He cried when the times of hurt came, and then he would feel a warm comforting presence that he knew was Sam.

He told his children all about Uncle Sam, how he was the greatest man he had ever known.

They grew up and Dean let them lead their own lives, Sam would have wanted that. They knew of hunting, hell his daughter had picked it up on the side. His son was a spitting image of Sam, even became a lawyer.

Dean hit old age and one day he fell from a heart attack. His wife rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late, Dean smiled at her and whispered his final words as he grew cold.

"I love you Danny, but it's time I go be with Sam…I'll see you in a little while…" he whispered as his eyes fell shut and his hand slipped away from hers.

And with that the tunnel opened up. Dean saw that tall lanky silhouette at the end, waiting for him. Dean grinned and felt himself leave, he ran toward Sam as fast as he could. He tackled him in a hug and they both went sailing into the light, onto a beach.

The two lay on their backs, laughing and grinning, both young and together again at last.

"I missed ya Sammy."

"I missed you to Dean."

The oceans waves filled the moment of silence.

"Sam, what was the job I had to finish?" Dean asked suddenly, turning to his brother.

"Your kids, the people you saved, your wife, your life was just the beginning to a long set of events that is to come Dean."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Man, I knew I was awesome."

They both rose and embraced in a hug, tears falling, but this time of happiness.

"Hey Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna do it again?"

"What?"

"Life?"

Dean paused and punched his brother playfully.

"Dude! I just got here, let me take a frickin' breather!"

Dean went to swing another playful punch but Sam had started running, and Dean followed with a laugh. As they ran age stripped away and they were two kids again, bare foot in shorts playing forever on a sunny beach, never again to be separated.


End file.
